Belnades
by Department Zetlin
Summary: In a mysterious other universe, Sypha Belnades and her allies defend the nation of Castlevania against the dark forces of Simon Belmont. However, forces from all about the many worlds of fiction threaten this universe. Can the heroes of two fics save it?
1. Ch1: Simon's Game

It all began when she looked down from her window. She saw that man for what she hoped would be the last time.

She was a young woman, still in her early twenties, but she had seen her share of tragedy. It was all tied to that one man. "The Dark Lord," he called himself in sick jest. He was an enemy of all that was good. He was to blame for the killing of her parents, the manipulation of so many of the famed Belmont clan, and the razing of everywhere he visited. She knew it wasn't hyperbole to say that he could kill with a touch, that all either feared or served him, and that he had designs on the world. She was scared to death. But she wasn't paralyzed like she used to be. Today, she was going to end his dark reign once and for all.

She watched him prepare outside her home. He was using magic to teleport tents outside for his minions to sleep in, and to form a large stone podium. It figured. As much as he liked to manipulate from the shadows, he also enjoyed the spotlight. He wanted a platform to make some huge speech about his power on. She had counted on that. As his back turned, her features melted away, leaving only an indistinct, transparent slime. She surreptitiously slithered out the window of her temporary cottage and moved onto the podium, where she stayed completely still. Her plan relied on her interrupting her foe as he spoke.

Today would be the day that Simon Belmont fell to the righteous fury of Doppelganger Belnades.

**. . .**

The four heroes awoke in a field, surrounded by unfamiliar plants. The first one to wake up was Trevor. He was a rather tall, muscular man, with long brown hair and narrow eyes that made him constantly appear either serious or drowsy. He brushed off his elaborate green duster coat, searched for a few seconds for his signature whip, then tried to rouse the others.

He began with an old friend of his, Mr. Grant Danasty. Grant was a stark contrast to Trevor, a pale and skinny white-haired figure covered in bandages, but with eyes that were very much alive. At least, they were when he was awake. Trevor crouched down and shook him.

"Wha? Wha's going on? Wha's going on?"

"Grant, I'm not sure, but we should probably awaken the others."

"Others?"

"Sypha and Alucard."

"Oh, those others. Gotcha."

Grant gave a short salute, then pulled himself off the ground and looked around. "Okay," he yawned. "This is coming from an amateur outdoorsman, but I think I have a pretty good idea where we are."

Trevor shot his friend a surprised look. "What? You have an idea of our bearings? Speak up, man!" He exclaimed.

Grant replied. "We're in some weird yard with a purple sky, there's a few trees over to the thattaway, and the whole thing's overlooked by a huge floating castle that I think is probably Castlevania."

Trevor stopped in his tracks. Castlevania. How long had it been since he left that man-made nightmare? Fighting, mostly alone, against a raging army of immortal beasts…the memories flooded back. However, back then, he had to fight off all other thoughts to concentrate on the "now." This was no different.

"Hey! Found Syph!"

What? Grant was about to awaken the maiden Sypha? Without him? Well, he certainly wasn't going to let that happen. Trevor rushed after the sound of Grant's voice, finding their third ally a short jog away, in the trees.

Sypha Belnades was in the very center of the clearing. While she was in an awkward sideways position, it was unmistakably her. Her flowing red-blonde hair was about her head, and she was dressed in her blue cross-marked church robes. A crucifix was in her limp hand. Grant, being somewhat less pure of heart than Trevor, also took notice of her chest. He would recognize her abnormally buxom figure anywhere. If this wasn't Sypha, it was her twin. Trevor kneeled down to shake her awake.

Before his hand could even touch her, she spun face-up, sat bolt upright without opening her eyes, and brandished the cross, screaming "Begone foul hellspawn, from whence you came, or I shall invoke the name of the lord and banish you myself!" She opened her eyes, and her expression of rage and fear changed to a subtly pleasant smile. "Oh, sorry, boys." She said calmly. "I can't be too careful, you know. Erm, where are we?"

Trevor turned to Grant. "Do you wish to explain?" "Eh, sure." Grant replied. "It's simple, Syph. We're in some weird field with a red sky and Castlevania is hovering over the whole deal." Sypha was silent for a few seconds, seemingly taking in the information. Strangely, she mumbled to herself.

"I have it."

"What, Syph? You think you know what's going on?"

"Not exactly, but I recognize this system. We're in a sort of…bubble of space, surrounded by magic. And if I'm correct…this isn't our time."

"Our time for what?" Trevor asked.

"No, no!" Sypha said. "What I mean is that some sorcery has moved us through time. We're currently in the year two-thousand…two-thou…we're in two-thousand thirty-seven."

Trevor shouted. "What? We've been moved more than a millennium! The apocalypse has probably passed us by! Dracula probably rules now that we're all gone! What madman would do such a thing?"

A young man rushed up through the trees suddenly. "Sirs! Madame! I've been searching all over for you!"

The three readied their weapons, with Trevor readying his Vampire Killer whip, Grant pulling a spiked chakram from his back, and Sypha summoning her ornate golden mace-staff out of air. The man raised his arms in defense. "Sorry! I didn't mean to frighten you all. I'm here to help you end Dracula once and for all. My name is Simon Belmont."

Trevor looked at the man. He certainly looked like a Belmont. He was tall and muscular, as Trevor himself was, and had long red hair. His clothes, a fur-trimmed vest, short leather pants, and a pair of fur boots, were mostly as red as his hair. To top it off, he was wielding a whip that could be identified as the Vampire Killer in Trevor's hand. The scarlet-clad warrior said, "It's wonderful to finally meet you, great-grandfather."

All three of the heroes recoiled in surprise. "Wait a second." Trevor said. "This doesn't match up. This is the year two thousand thirty-seven. My great grandson should only be around the…late 1600s, if I'm right."

Simon nodded. "With some magical assistance, I brought you three and myself here, along with many other heroes. Nearly the entire Belmont clan, plus any others who oppose Dracula, have been gathered. We're at a time when Dracula is dead for good, and his reincarnation is a hero by the name of Soma Cruz. We plan to take Castlevania down for good, and end the Dark Lord's reign. Together, we are unstoppable."

Sypha raised her finger. "Is that for a question, great-grandmother?" Simon laughed. "Several actually. What form of magical assistance did you use, how strong is Dracula's army, do you have any magical or holy items to assist us, what is your exact relation to Trevor and, frankly, how are you related to me, since you called me 'great-grandmother?'

Simon's jaw stayed slightly open for a time, until he managed to say "You should come with me to our base. It's not too far, and we have a device from the twenty-first century that will help answer your questions. Come, I'll show you the way." Sypha interrupted. "I'm sorry, sir, but I'm wary about going anywhere with someone I don't fully know. For all I know, you could be a demon, either an Incubus using illusions to imitate a human or a different variety being assisted by an Incubus. If you are truly an ally, could you please prove your identity?"

Simon's reply was simple. "Our settlement is only about a fourth of a mile from here. I can prove myself a Belmont if you wish, but I don't really see the point, when it can be confirmed by others there."

Sypha seemed to accept this answer. The four heroes then went, with Simon in the lead, around the edge of the floating land. Soon, they came to a large gathering of tents, with people walking in and out of them quickly. "That's our settlement." Simon said. "It's only a simple base for us to heal right now, but we want to eventually make a full town here. It's kind of like purifying the monsters' land. You should probably stay here for a while. After your deaths back in your own times, you were hailed as legendary heroes. Your descendants would faint at the sight of you three!"

**. . .**

The end had come. The heroes had all learned the ways of the time they were in, had gotten to know each other, and had reconciled with those they had lost or even once fought. A man in a white suit with "FIAT" on the back had come around and equipped everyone with holy items and weaponry. They were now all prepared mentally and physically to destroy Castlevania. Simon had led them all to a stone stage, where he had set up a microphone connected to a magical orb of electricity, enchanted to not be affected by the heavy rainstorm surrounding them. "Everyone! Please! Quiet down!" He began. Once all the discussion had stopped, the blood-red warrior began to rouse his troops.

"Everyone here has seen the evil of Lord Dracula. The villain has corrupted our Earth, and he has killed millions in his immortal war against God. Even now that he has been killed, by the great Julius Belmont, I might add…"

A short applause occurred, and Simon's 56-year-old descendant stood up.

"…and is prevented from returning, by the efforts of his reincarnation, Soma Cruz…"

Another applause.

"…his undead army still stands, driven by his still-living essence. If we do not finish what has been started, then Dracula may well appear in a new form, and raze the world of the living. He may even overthrow Heaven. We cannot allow this to happen. My plan is that…"

Something completely unexpected happened. A bizarre liquid rose up from the stone and morphed into a replica of Simon. It spoke in an echoing imitation of the genuine hero's voice. "Simon Belmont!" It shouted. "I've come as an emissary of the great Lord Dracula and of the mighty Castlevania! If you dare to oppose us, then I challenge you to a duel, right here, right now!"

Simon appeared amused. "What?" He asked. "Am I honestly hearing a mere doppelganger try to challenge me? A creature that I have defeated far too many of in the past?"

It was the doppelganger's turn to smirk. "You think that I would come up here and ask for a one-on-one fight if I didn't have an ace up my sleeve? I'm insulted, Belmont. Let's see you fight through my…illusion!"

The creature thrust its hand into the air and began to wave it about. Several of the witches and magic-workers in the audience recognized the gesture. This monster wasn't kidding. It was producing an illusionary veil to confuse Simon and prevent any assistance from his friends. They quickly donned the holy glasses they had received and urged others to do the same.

Once that had been sorted out, they turned their attention to the fight. Simon and the creature were still keeping at a distance from each other, looking for openings. The doppelganger began to speak. The crowd tensed up, ready for an extremely offensive taunt.

"How do you sleep at night, Simon?"

"Simple. I'm a demon. The fact that your little city is full of the undead and the dying makes me feel like I'm getting things done."

"You're more than a demon. Somewhere in there is the original Simon, the hero material that was there before you came in. Doesn't that change anything?"

"Actually, it does. The fact that I also have a human mind in here makes this all the more entertaining."

"Entertaining? You sick monster! How is this entertaining?"

"Really? You don't think this is even a little clever? Think about it! Two friends, Leon and Mathias. Mathias becomes a vampire, but since the Crimson Stone turned him, he's still himself. I, the great demon sorcerer Illusionary, come in and make Leon think that Mathias has gone to the dark side and rebelled against God, and I make him kill his best friend. Then, since the Crimson Stone has made Mathias, now calling himself 'Dracula,' immortal, I make Leon's descendants keep on killing him."

The crowd began to move their glasses down to see if there was any change. The fight was identical, but Simon was saying something about virtue's triumph over evil when their glasses were down. And while they hadn't noticed it, there was a slight fog when their glasses were not on, but only around Simon and his doppelganger. Slowly, and with some fear, they all put the glasses back on to see through this demon-Simon's illusion. They wanted to see if they needed to do anything. Onstage, Simon had finished discussing his manipulation of Julius.

"That's just what I managed to do to House Belmont, my other half's bloodline. And I will admit, that wasn't very entertaining. It was really just wanton murder. And I don't have time to remind you how brilliant my manipulation of Dracula's own son was. So I suppose I'll just have to stick with explaining what I did-to your family. Does this name ring a bell? Robert Belnades."

Several people in the crowd felt uneasy. Most of them were descendants of the Belnades family. Sypha in particular looked ill. Robert was her father.

"Robert was Castlevania's best. A witch born and bred within the confines of the castle-city. Of course, he was a witch. And that made it so easy to inspire a mob to kill him."

The doppelganger struck out angrily. "Shut up about my father! He was a greater man than you or any of Galamoth's followers will ever be!"

Simon recovered from the blow quickly, and knocked the doppelganger to the ground. "His wife Emilia and he were hanged for heresy by people that agreed with them one-hundred percent, thanks to Carmilla and myself, and the best part is that their daughter Sypha is now my willing pawn. Their other daughter, their little Dawn, is of course now a hideous blob that her twin sister would never recognize, even in her own form. Especially in her own form, really, since it makes her look like the face-stealer she is. She's spent all her life wanting her family back. Too bad that now she's grown up into you, the last family you have, your sister, will cheer my murder of you on. And the final piece in this irony is that I just explained everything to this crowd of heroes, and told them how innocent of all crime Dracula and his people are. I'm giving them the perfect opening to kill me and end my evil ways-and those miserable sheep won't do a damned thing about it. Now tell me that this isn't entertaining."

"It isn't."

"Did you just speak?"

"No. I did." A figure stood up from the crowd and stepped up onto the stage. Sypha. She was breathing heavily and seemed to be crying. "This isn't entertaining in the least, you wretched spawn of Satan! Everything you have described is monstrous and sick and you know it! And I'm afraid...I'm afraid that we miserable sheep no longer have the wool pulled over their eyes!"

Sypha's arms raised, and the air in front of them seemed to explode. A massive ball of flame shot at Simon's chest, knocking him into the air and off the stone stage. He collapsed on the ground. The crowd stood still, watching to see if Simon was down for good. Onstage, the Doppelganger melted into a form nigh-identical to that of Sypha, differing only in that she was dressed in a purple robe. "S-sis..." She began. She suddenly hugged the church-witch, crying. "Sis! Y-you're back! I'm sorry. It's just that you're my only real family and I never knew you for so long and I miss my sister and I'm really thankful for your saving me and I have a family again and..." Sypha merely blinked. "Sister. I have a sister."

Suddenly, Simon stood back up. He didn't appear to have been harmed in the least, though he now had two small horns protruding from his temples. Adding to his new aura of disquiet was the fact that he was slowly levitating up from the ground. He looked around to make sure that everyone was too taken aback to interrupt him. "You think that you've won, don't you?" He taunted. "Don't you get it? You can never leave this place! You're trapped within an eclipse just as those disgusting fools are!"

The space behind him began to glow with a violet light.

"And there is no one to help you here! You are monsters! Butchers! Most of you have killed children in cold blood before!"

The purple glow behind the floating warrior formed into a vague apparition.

"If any of you wish to make amends, you should simply die on the spot!"

The glow solidified, and it was clear now that it was a robed skeleton, with a scythe in its hand and a white bandanna covering one eye socket. Death personified. The grimly grinning reaper raised his blade in preperation.

"You would save the insolent cattle here the tro..."

Simon Belmont was divided cleanly in twain. Both halves faded into mist and blew away, leaving only the reaper "standing." Death floated down gracefully to the stage and took hold of the microphone in his free hand. "Hello?" He began in a deep, raspy voice. "Is everyone present listening?"

Each individual there heard the voice in their ears, as if they were wearing headphones. They turned to the stage. "Good." Death boomed. "Mistresses Belnades? If you would kindly step down and back into the audience?" Sypha and Doppelganger stepped off the stage and turned around to listen.

"I don't have very much time, so I will make this a shortened version of my full intended message. Simon Belmont decieved you. Every single thing he told any of you has been proven a lie. Therefore, you have no reason to listen when he calls you murderers. Not a single man or woman here had an honest chance at learning the truth of matters, and few even had the capability. The crime you are guilty of, at worst, is manslaughter. Accidental killing. And I see no reason why that cannot be forgiven, considering that each of you has helped humanity genuinely in many ways. Your work has even occasionally saved lives here, as you slay demons who would prey on innocent undead and weres. None of you has a reason to kill yourselves, and I would in fact be proud to invite you to stay within the confines of Castlevania, considering that you can only leave this dimension during an eclipse. Does anyone object to this prospect?"

Everyone stayed silent, save for one man in camouflage who shouted "No!" at the top of his lungs. "Very well then." Proclaimed Death. "If you will follow me, I will lead you all into Castle Town and your temporary lodgings."

Death glowed brightly and began floating off towards a series of floating stepping stones while the crowd followed. Only Sypha and her sister stayed behind. "Sister?" She asked. The doppelganger turned to her. "It's okay, Sis. You can call me Doppelganger."

"I want to call you by your name."

"That is my name. I changed it to that. It's on my driver's licence and everything."

"Very well, Doppelganger. However, what did he mean by Castle Town?"

Doppelganger grinned and giggled to herself. "You dunno? What you've seen is just the late Lord Dracula's part of the castle. The castle is actually big enough inside to have a few cities, a forest, we've even got weather in there."

"Y-you have cities in the castle? Many of them?"

"Yup. We were born there."

"So this is my birthplace?"

"Yup! Maybe they'll even let us room together. I've got my own apartment."

"Say, the other refugees are getting away from us. We should follow them."

Doppelganger suddenly whipped her head back. "You're right! Let's go!" She shouted. In an instant, she became a fluid cat-like creature, leaping after the crowd. Sypha began to follow when she saw one final delay.

There was a man wearing a long black coat and a wide-brim hat standing in the rain. Suddenly, the man grinned and waved to her in a friendly manner, then dissolved into what looked like a cloud of black latin letters.

The rain stopped.


	2. Chapter 2

Around thirty people had been gathered at Castlevania to destroy it. Now, those same thirty had been gathered by Death to seek refuge within its walls.

Sypha, at the back of the procession, turned to her sister. "Her sister." It would still be a long time before she could wrap her head around that concept. For starters, she was a twin. That was a shock. She had grown up knowing full well that she was an only child. And she was wrong. Her identity was about to be irreconcilably altered, for sure. Adding to the surprise, she had met her sister before. Apparently, when she had raided Dracula's castle a month or so ago (under the effects of demonic illusions, as it turns out.), the liquid beast that had taken on her appearance to attack her was, in fact, the altered form of Dawn Belnades. Dawn, or "Doppelganger" as she preferred to be called, used Sypha's form seemingly as a base when humanoid. Therefore, Sypha reasoned, it was logical to assume that she was her monozygotic sister, and was in fact taking a variant of her own original shape. She would have to ask her about that later.

Finally, to Sypha's surprise, "Doppelganger" not only didn't despise her for the attempted slaying, but actually seemed to sincerely want to become her close friend. This was intriguing. Sypha had wondered a bit why it was so easy to defeat the doppelganger. From what she knew of them, they were nigh invulnerable. Flames or cold could weaken them, and they could be killed by division of their bodies, but these were all useless against a doppelganger's speed and intellect. Yet the creature had slumped down after a blunt barrage that it barely tried to dodge. It all came together now. She had been holding back out of a combination of love and fear. The thought of her own brutality made Sypha physically ill, but she pushed the thought away out of practicality. It could easily be pulled back during her daily repentance.

As the church-witch's mind returned to reality, she noted her twin's position. Save for being dressed in violet robes instead of blue ones, Doppelganger had taken the form of a perfect mirror of her sister. This made sense, Sypha noted, as it was really the closest she could ever get to her own true face. She had also switched emotions amazingly quickly. During her battle with the apparently-evil Simon Belmont, Doppelganger was stoic and cold. She refused mercy to her life-long enemy: the killer of her parents and corrupter of her flesh and blood. And now, through her joyful tears, she was giggling like a schoolgirl. Odd. She would have to ask about that when they were inside Castlevania.

Meanwhile, up at the front of the procession, Death had reached the doors of the castle. The entire castle was constantly in flux, and never looked the same when someone saw it for a second time. Currently, the front doors were tall and midnight-black. The reaper lifted his arms into the air, and the doors flew open. The long line of warriors walked into an ivory hallway, possessed of a high arched ceiling and lined with portraits of historic vampires and sorcerers. All recognized this corridor as the Grand Hall, the entrance to the castle, and the first region of the castle that every hero raided. It was an odd feeling, walking through it without being attacked or attacking.

Death led the heroes to a seemingly insignificant patch of wall where an extra portrait could have been hung. "Everyone, I request that you gather close to this spot." Death stated. There was a shuffling as the group rearranged. The skeletal man raised a bony finger to the wall and touched it gingerly. Slowly, he began to trace a spiraled path onto it. The path was low enough at some points to force him to crouch, and he floated in air to reach some of the higher points. As the path deviated from a simple spiral near the center, it became obvious to many of those watching that the symbol was a sigil. However, none recognized it.

Once Death had finished, he stepped back, as if to admire his work. He then calmly took his scythe and adjusted the blade, leaving it almost parallel to the handle. He then turned one end towards the wall-and thrust the scythe in. It went through the wall like it was air, but seemed to get stuck after the blade was in. The reaper quickly turned it sideways, like a key. The wall's white gleam darkened until it was black, and its image began to shake and flicker like an amateur videotape. Death then yanked his weapon from the wall as the entire castle flickered with the wall. When the darkness was gone, the entire scenery had left with it, and a strange new landscape was in its place. The heroes, Doppelganger, and Death were now gathered on a very large balcony. To their back was a grey stone castle. To their front was something more amazing.

They saw the city.

Deep in the recesses of Castlevania was a sprawling cityscape. Its black skyscrapers were connected by beams of white light: teleportation links. Thousands of misshapen people were mulling about in the streets, going about their respective businesses of shopping, selling, or simply going to the apartments of friends. High above the city was a gathering of dark rainclouds and, high above those, a smooth black ceiling.

Some of the main things to catch the attention of the viewers were the telescreens. On a goodly percentage of the buildings were near-2D screens with three-dimensional holographic scenes on them. Some of them were everyday television, such as football games and advertisements. They merely were being acted out by strange, deformed parodies of humans. Others were darker, showing countdowns to eclipses and information on recent attacks from the outside. It was clear now that this was not merely a stronghold. This was a city, and it was carrying on with life despite the tragedy surrounding it.

Death chuckled. "It is beautiful, isn't it? We call it Castle Town. A city built by magic, for the corners of humanity that society refuses to admit exist." He turned to his followers. "Still, we are not here to sight-see. Please, follow me. You will all be given homes in a government-owned portion of the city. If you have any close relatives within the city, they will be assigned as your guides to the city."

Death walked on as he spoke, entering a door behind the balcony that led to what looked like some form of government office. Still near the back, Sypha Belnades prepared herself for her new, if hopefully temporary, life in this "Castle Town." She looked behind at the city. This was where she was born. In the back of her mind, she could almost recall, but she couldn't quite reach the memory. Well, there was enough time to consider that later. She turned and ran to catch up with the rest of the procession. Didn't Death mention that she would be assigned to the home of a close relative if one was present? Logically, that meant that she would be living in the same home as…

. . .

"Sister!"

"Wh-what?"

"Come in! Come in! I've got so much to show you! This is going to be great! Just have a seat over there! I'll go make some tea!"

As Sypha sat down on the sofa, she tried to comprehend what had just happened. She followed the directions that she had been given to the Doppelganger's apartment, checking them to make sure. She had entered the black tower that her sister apparently lived in, used the ascending room she had been directed to, and then…she had been hugged, pulled in, and offered tea by a purple blur. Sypha closed her eyes and attempted to re-enter the moment.

When she opened her eyes again, her twin was sitting in a chair across from her. She was still in Sypha's form, but was now dressed in a violet T-shirt, shorts, and sandals. She had a tall cup in each hand, with the scent of an herbal tea floating from both of them. "Care for some?" She asked.

Sypha politely took the outstretched glass and gingerly took a sip. It was like nothing she had ever had before, and extremely calming. The latter made it quite useful in the current situation. Doppelganger spoke. "So, this is my humble abode. Guess you'll be staying here for a while. How do you like it?"

Sypha glanced around. "You'll have to excuse me. I'm unfamiliar with most of this. The technology I recognize, but the architecture is a bit alien."

"Understandable."

"I actually have several questions I would like to ask you. I suppose it would be polite for me to give you a chance to interrogate me first. Do you have any questions you would like to ask?"

"Serious ones?"

"Yes."

"Nope. We all know a good amount on the outside world here, and I've heard a lot about you already."

Sypha looked ashamed. "It must have been a terrible disappointment, when we…when we finally met."

"It's okay. Seriously! It isn't your fault! If anything, I should have tried harder to stop you."

"No. You did well. I can remember."

There was a long pause. Their fight to the near-death was a very uncomfortable topic for the both of them. Sypha broke the silence. "Past is past, and all has been forgiven. What is important now is the fight against Simon. Can you explain to me his plans? Abilities? Affiliations?"

Doppelganger smirked. "Not really. But I do know some things on him. First of all, he's a fusion of two people. Simon is only half of him, and the other half was an Envy demon named Zero-One."

"Ah, yes. Keeping with the demonic custom of having an identification number instead of a name. What was his sur-number, for the record?"

"Eighty-eight. His name was 0188-E. Anyway, he's part of the Cult of Galamoth. I don't know exactly what that is, but it has big plans to take over the world and bring about an eternity of darkness. You know, the usual stuff."

"And why did he want Dracula dead?"

"Without a Dark Lord, there's nobody to control the darkness. The power's up for the taking-and Galamoth can get it. Oh, yeah, and something that they're behind has been yanking me around time and space every so often. That's how I got here: they left me stranded in the 21st century."

"Two questions."

Doppelganger cocked her head to one side. "Yeah?"

"What is Galamoth and what is keeping his, hers, or it's cult from conquering us already? From what you say, we've been vulnerable since 2017."

"I don't know that much about Galamoth. Some sort of lizard god, I think. There's really not much info on him, and believe me, I've tried to find some. About what's keeping us safe, we have a sorta-kinda-not-really Dark Lord in the form of Soma."

"But Soma Cruz refused the power of Dracula."

"Tried to, maybe. He's been doing pretty much what Drac was trying to in the first place, and he's still got dominion over the supernatural. He's as good a shield from Simon as any."

"So that's it." Sypha placed her hand on her chin. "Thank you for the explanation of our position. Speaking of explaining our _position_…"

Doppelganger leapt up from her seat. "You want to know about the city?" She said eagerly. Sypha nodded.

"Okay, here's how it works. Castle Town is part of the greater Umbra City. Umbra City, in turn, is a micronation that Mathias Cronqvist founded for the purposes of magical beings."

"He didn't think they could live together with normal society?"

"He knew what Simon was doing."

"Ah."

"We're all sort of divided into four groups. First, you have the Undead. Pretty much, these are people with some traits of being alive and some of being dead. Y'know, like zombies and skeletons. Anyway, they can usually grow, eat, restore themselves, and reproduce."

"Sexually or otherwise?"

"Sexually. Outsiders like you probably shouldn't try to picture it, no offense. Anyway, they don't usually have pulses, breath, or all their flesh. They also don't die when you take bits off unless they aren't reattached quickly. After that you have the Weres. Pretty much, that means anything that thinks like a human but has animal parts. Some of them can use magic to become full humans for a while, but…some can't. They also aren't usually very symmetrical. Most'll at least have one eye off from the other."

"It sounds rather unfortunate."

"It isn't really. They've kind of bred out any traits that could kill them or make it hard for them to function. They're just sort of weird-looking."

It was at about this point that a man walked up from a lower room of the apartment. Or rather, something resembling a man walked up. It was a thin yet muscular greenish-brown creature with a long, curved neck. Its bald head had vaguely African features, but they were distorted by the presence of a beak enveloping most of its head. Its hands ended in foot-long claws which slowly retreated into its fingers as it walked, and it was clad in a strange brown loincloth which clung to its legs.

The man-beast approached the sisters. Its long neck swung from side to side as it looked from one of them to the other with its black, watery eyes. Finally, it turned its attention to Doppelganger. Its beak turned upwards and opened as it spoke in a thick Ghanaian accent. "Doppelganger!" It said. "You did it! Didn't you?"

Doppelganger leapt from her seat, rushing to the creature and tackle-hugging it. "Yes! Yes! I did it! No more attacks from Belmonts! No more having to fight my own family! Until Simon gets a new plan, we're saved! And I have my sister back and as soon as we've gotten to know each other better I would love for you to meet her! She's great!"

Doppelganger spun on her heel to face Sypha. "Sis, I'd like you to meet my best friend in the world, Slogra Gavi!"

Sypha stood up and shook the hand of the creature, noting that he had retracted his claws fully, leaving only sharp fingernails. "Good to meet you, Mr. Gavi."

"It is very good to meet you, Miss Belnades. I have heard a lot about you. Almost all of it is good."

"Almost?"

"There is the bit about Simon. But that was not really your fault. Oh, by the way, Miss Belnades?"

"Yes?"

"There is something that I would like to ask you about when you have a chance."

"Very well. I'm afraid I'm in a discussion with Doppelganger right now, so you'll have to wait a while."

"That is okay. I have some things I can do while waiting."

Doppelganger rushed to Slogra's shoulder, grabbing hold of it. "Wait a sec, Sloggy! I want to use you as an example."

Doppelganger turned to Sypha. "What you see here is called a Bio-construct. It's pretty much when…"

Sypha cut her off. "I'm familiar with bio-constructs. They're living creatures constructed by witches, either for a specific task or as an experiment. They include the common Doppelganger, not to be confused with you, of course, the Sky Fish, and the Homunculus."

"Okay. But what you probably don't know is that they're also around one fourth of the population here. Well, the descendants of human-ish ones are."

"Interesting. I hadn't heard much about Bio-constructs capable of reproduction. And you say that Mr. Gavi here is a Construct?"

"Yup. Designed for hunting and gathering."

"Say, you mentioned four different types of outcasts, here. So far, you've mentioned three. I have to wonder what the fourth is."

Doppelganger opened her mouth and raised a finger, before saying "It's going to be easiest if I show you."

She grabbed a curved, smooth remote from her sofa and turned it towards a perfectly flat screen on one wall. A video appeared on the screen, showing four young women and three young men, walking down a city sidewalk with shopping bags filled with goods and bright grins on their faces. The most noticeable thing about them was an eerie level of perfection. None of the seven had a single blemish, scar, or otherwise imperfection on their skin. They were all trim, good-looking, and perfectly proportioned. The women were impossible beauties, with anatomically impossible figures, long hair that shined in the light, and the faces of supermodels. The men were all handsome and muscular, with two of them being square-jawed heroes and the third being an androgynous beauty. All seven wore pointed, wide-brimmed hats.

A voiceover began. "The appearance of the modern witch is just one of the many wonders of the Magic Age." The screen cut to an image of a wind turbine, with the black sky betraying its location as Castlevania. "Our power comes from infinite thaumic generators, which send magical energy to homes around the city. As long as the generators are repaired, we can never run out of energy." The image cut again to a group of metallic beings, resembling high-tech versions of knights' armor. "The energy also powers our trusted military and police force, the Armors. Invented in the 14th century by Alexander Mino and improved upon by Robert Belnades…"

Doppelganger paused the television. Sypha turned to her with her jaw dropped as far as it could. "Father?" She asked.

"Yeah. Dad created a lot of the magical tech we use here. He made the new armors, the rune-door to the city, and he even made a cool Bio-construct defense system. It's called the Gergoth. I keep 'im in a pocket of space, but he's pretty much my pet."

Sypha nodded, as if taking it all in. "So what were you trying to show me about the fourth variety of citizen?"

"The humans here are almost all Witches. Pretty much, the modern witch is your standard human, plus the looks of a supermodel and a pointy hat."

Sypha was horrified. There was something called the Old Witchcraft. It was a combination of respecting nature, helping those around one's self by being a leader and sage, and searching for the truth in all things. It was a code that Sypha followed almost as strictly as her own Catholicism. That was witchcraft. Not trendiness and toying with one's appearance for lustful reasons. Still, she didn't want to make any outbursts at Doppelganger. It might frighten her, and this needed to be a time to restore friendships. "Why the appearance? I…well…I have it and you had it only because of the family curse. Why do these people all look so much alike?"

"Magical facial alteration. They like making themselves as gorgeous as possible. Or a bit more, if they can."

"That's…don't you think…it's a bit disturbing, isn't it? Magic is for finding truth and helping the helpless. And now it's being used as glorified makeup."

"Oh, don't worry! The Old Witchcraft is still alive. We still serve the world. We just…play with it a bit, too. It's no different than most other uses of technology, really. I mean, if you can do something without people getting hurt, why not do it? That's what Dad always said."

Sypha thought about it. Admittedly, it made a certain sense. After all, magic was nothing more than manipulating tangible energies in nature. It was a science. If magic had to be used only for protecting the innocent, one might as well say that ochre had to be used only for medicinal purposes. And then why not just refuse any and all culture and emotion, in place of pure mindless survival? She had made a knee-jerk reaction, hating anything with a purpose partially based on attracting the opposite sex. She made a mental note to attempt to accept all nature, even that which she didn't understand. Besides, she had some of her late (and apparently Dracula-serving) father's journal with her at all times, and it did often state his belief that harm coming to others is the only real moral barrier. He never did care for rules that, if broken, wouldn't noticeably hurt anything, although his wearing of multiple fabrics did worry Mother a bit. Come to think of it, Doppelganger knew about the journal as well. New mental note: Ask about the journal when time is allowed.

"Hey. Sis. You okay?"

"Ah! Yes, yes, quite. I concede the point, and apologize for my pride and stubbornness."

"That's okay! That's okay!"

"The hats still seem overly stereotypical."

"They're popular. Same as flying brooms and cats."

"Oh, dear me." Sypha sighed. "Anyhow, I should probably go see Mr. Gavi about his request. I can't help but notice that he left while we discussed the local Craft. Thank you for your primer on the city, which I'm sure will be invaluable."

"Sure. Anytime. After all, we're family, aren't we?" Doppelganger giggled again.

"Yes. I suppose we are."

"Hug?"

"No thank you. I'm not particularly excited about making contact with others."

"Yeah. I understand. So, I guess when you come back I can show you the bedroom? It's kinda late."

"Very well. I'll see you later."

At that, Sypha Belnades left her new apartment.


End file.
